All the Stars in the Sea
by HoundofSpring
Summary: Fate had different plans for Midoriya at the Kamino Ward. A chance meeting with the leader of the League of Villains leaves Midoriya broken and changed in many ways, questioning how he can ever be a hero with what has happened to him. Can he truly find a meaning to his suffering, or will he live knowing that all he can do is cause suffering for others? Eventual OP!Deku.
1. Meddling when you don't need to

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 1**

**AN: Hello everyone! I'm HoundofSpring, but you can just call me Hound! I've lurked on this site for a couple of years now and decided to make an account a while back, thinking I would start adding some content to this site, but never did until now. This is my first story, so criticism is (and always will be) a welcome gift. The idea for this story popped into my head one day, and after searching through the stories on-site, I was surprised to see (as far as I know) that this was not pursued! I hope you enjoy! Thank you for taking an interest in what I have!**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

* * *

To say that Midoriya was having one hell of a week would be an understatement.

The summer training camp had started wildly, _obviously another one of Aizawa's attempts at a logical ruse_, and only increased in intensity as the days progressed. The training was undoubtedly valuable, and would have proven to bear fruit for everyone had their session with the Wild Wild Pussycats finished as planned.

"_Many things seem to not go as planned when they concern me, though_," Midoriya mused.

The League of Villains organized their foremost attack members into a vanguard and sent them out to disrupt, attack, and cause mayhem at the first year hero course's summer training camp. Their primary goal, however, was the kidnapping of one student in particular. Katsuki Bakugo.

"_Kaachan."_

The years of pain Midoriya suffered under Kaachan and his 'lackeys' were none too pleasant to recall, but it was all in the past. _Kaachan definitely isn't the same person now as he used to be, and I know he will end up being a great hero like I knew he would be._ That belief, however, hinged on the hero's ability to rescue Katsuki from the League before anything could happen to him.

"_And I was so close to saving him too…" _Midoriya recalled, laying in his hospital bed. After everything that he worked for, trained for, the hours he spent pushing his body and breaking past his limits day after day, it was just not enough to save his childhood friend. Every teacher that he had to help him along the way, their teachings wasted in the face of just not being enough. As he laid in the hospital bed, one of his arms in a state of irreparable, critical danger of being completely useless, that was the truth Midoriya found in himself.

It was a sobering thought, and what occupied most of his thoughts the moment his classmates left his hospital room. Kirishima outlined an insane rescue plan to try and save Katsuki, and those that visited Midoriya were notably discouraged from attempting to help. They reasoned that it would only do more damage than good for the heroes that would be on the scene should the students intervene. Midoriya agreed with many of the claims on a logical basis, almost fully agreeing to simply let the heroes deal with the problem their way. It was the chance, the window of opportunity, the slight chance of the unexpected to sway the tides in their favor, which convinced Midoriya to meet Kirishima and the others in front of the hospital that same night to attempt the rescue of one Katsuki Bakugo.

On his way to the front of the hospital, however, Midoriya awkwardly caught his foot on a stray pebble and stumbled forward. Stopping himself before he could fall, Midoriya did not make much of the event and continued onward.

How he wished he knew how one stray pebble would radically change his entire world.

* * *

"I'll have you return everything, All For One!"

"Will you kill me again, All Might?"

The clash sent up shockwaves that rippled through the broken town. The lively Kamino Ward's normal cacophony was replaced with screams, crumbling buildings, and crashes all around. At the epicenter of this conflict a battle between gods raged, the symbol of peace against the lord of darkness.

Near the center of this battle stood one Katsuki Bakugo and the other members of the League of Villains, while at its most immediate sidelines Midoriya, Kirishima, Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Iida were gathered together, hidden from view but watching what they could of the battle in awe of the power being thrown around.

_We really would have been in over our heads if we even thought that we could take on someone like that! The world of pros is ridiculous! Will we ever be able to fight like that? Will I ever have to? _The questions kept piling up for Midoriya as the battle raged, watching his mentor being beaten down by his sworn enemy and leader of the League of Villans, All For One, and attempting to plan a safe way to get Katsuki away from the battle without fighting themselves, Midoriya had not taken care to watch out for the many piles of rubble around his feet from Mount Lady's initial attack on the Nomu warehouse.

Almost tripping, but catching himself at the last second and pushing up against the wall hiding him and his friends from view, Midoriya stabilized himself. As his hand left the wall, however, a small number of pebbles slid off the wall and to the ground.

In every other world, every other timeline in which this event took place, Midoriya would go on with his classmates to create a plan that would rescue Katsuki from the fight against the members of the League and allow All Might to fight All For One head on without any restraints. In every other world, that is what would happen.

Here, however, it would not follow such a path. For here, it just so happened that Midoriya would trip on this pebble and fall within the range of one Wild Wild Pussycat's search quirk, at just the exact moment that an unfortunate bystander would lose their life to collapsed rubble and make it to where exactly ninety-nine people were within the range of All For One.

* * *

All For One prided himself on many things. His ability to control the many quirks he amassed over his years as a villain with ease, his student Shigaraki, his constant decimation of the users of One for All time after time they faced against him in battle, the list was long. Most importantly, however, All For One prided himself in his ability to never be surprised. His many years as king of the underworld gave All For One access to information no simple civilian, federal agent, or even hero could have access to within the bounds of their job. Every event of significance to All For One that took place, he had documented and quickly prepared measures for and against their procedure. His final fight with All Might being no different than any other, it being a fool's task to collect the information on it. To discuss critical matters so openly near electronics with microphone capabilities, combined with a person who has the power of All For One, it was child's play to collect recordings and secret documents regarding the plan.

The battle itself would proceed as it always had for All For One: in the way that All For One decided it would proceed. No matter the time or place, All For One never had, until this very day, had to modify his plans to account for an extra variable, a proverbial wrench thrown into his plans. To know that he had no information on this extra person's involvement in the hero's rescue operation was almost enough to anger All For One, nearly enough for him to forego his plans and release a full-blown attack at whichever living being twitched. Nearly.

All For One calmed himself, and used a quirk he had taken some time ago, _Quick Thinking_, to analyze the situation at hand and to test the new quirk he received. Finding the quirk in his repository, All For One activated _Search_ and analyzed the newcomer to his stage.

All For One prided himself on many things. It would later shock him when he realized that, not only did he stop fighting All Might, but gasped aloud and turned to directly face the hiding spot of one Izuku Midoriya watching his battle against the symbol of peace.

* * *

The years of bullying had given Midoriya something akin to a danger sense, a deep-seated gut feeling of twisted uneasiness that something bad would happen. The stronger the feeling, the odds tended to sway in the favor of something worse happening. It was at the moment when Izuku felt like his stomach simply collapsed and most internal organs failed on the spot, that he knew something simply horrible was going to happen.

Shoving his classmates out of the way, a condensed explosion of air shot out from behind Izuku as the wall neatly crumbled to reveal him standing, yet hiding his friends from view.

"Midoriya, what are you do-"

"Quiet!" Izuku harshly whispered to Iida, slowly turning to face the horde of villains and walking towards them.

"_I can't risk letting everyone else be seen, so I have to take the fall here and reveal myself. Maybe that way no one will have any reason to search behind what is left of the wall." _As Izuku walked forward a voice carried over those gathered, a sound so painfully familiar that he would be remiss to not know who it was from.

"My boy! What are you doing here?!" All Might shouted, aghast at the sight of his successor at the site of this battle. "_I should expect to get some hell for this later, no doubt. That is if we all get out of this alive…" _Midoriya noted, now shakingly taking steps out into the open.

Gods, when did the air become so _oppressive_. The sheer feeling of power emanating from both sides was insane. It felt as though Midoriya was a gnat attempting to challenge a monsoon, a droplet of water fighting against the vastness of an ocean. It took all that he had to remain standing, and even more to continue walking while hiding his blatant fear as best he could.

What did stop Midoriya, though, was another voice. One that he found painfully familiar, something tucked away at the corner of his mind begging to be let free but promised a harsh pain should it be undone. A voice that carried over him like a breath of fire, agonizing but tender and warm.

"Izuku." All For One said. "Izuku, my son. Is that really you?"


	2. Suddenly it Changes

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 2 – Suddenly it Changes**

**AN: We're back at it again at Krispy Kreme! To those that have already favorited, followed, and reviewed the story just from the get-go, thank you SO much! It really means a lot to see this story getting off on a good footing with all of you, and I hope to keep delivering interesting content as the story progresses. It made me so happy as a matter of fact, that I decided to pound out another chapter for you all today even though I was 30 minutes late to work this morning, but screw that! Reviews are always welcome, along with constructive criticism and insightful commentary. I will always try to accommodate what you all are saying into the story while keeping my plans for the storyline intact as well. With that said, onwards!**

**P.S. Like, what's the deal with cover/profile images? Will they make me look cool if I have them? Will I seem hip, cool, and youthful if I use them?**

**P.P.S. Credit to the Main Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being my main source of music while writing this.**

**P.P.P.S. Expect some spoilers that come from WAY beyond the currently aired episodes.**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

* * *

"Izuku, my son. Is that really you?"

A harsh silence fell over the site of All For One and All Might's battle. The wind itself seemed to stop billowing through the night as crumbling buildings and dying people ceased their symphony of sound to listen in on this sole conversation; the collection of people at the site of the battlefield had stopped moving and listened with rapt attention to that which mother nature noted the importance of.

"…huh? What's the big deal here, huh?" rasped Shigaraki.

* * *

"_It is not possible…"_ All For One reasoned. _"Izuku is quirkless. He was diagnosed when he was 4 years old by doctor Tsubasa, my personal medical assistant. He did not make a mistake, I am sure of it. I left at that time to finish my empire, retire my quirk to my deemed inheritor, and go back to Inko and my son to finish the rest of this life in peace. Thanks to All Might, however, I could never see the rest of my dream to fruition, I could never see my wife or child again lest I taint their pure souls with my crimes."_

"_I kept them as safe as I could without directly involving myself to ensure that they could at least live on without me. Checks to pay for bills and food, it would never replace a caring father in the house, but it was the least I could do. But…but this…"_

All For One did not misuse a quirk, ever. The powers and proper usage of a quirk were made inherent the moment he took it from the original user, and he was able to use it on command at any point. It was possible to even enhance the quirks he had thanks to an extremely useful quirk he obtained in his early years named _Multiplier_, but his newest quirk _Search_ needed no such power enhancement to reveal to All For One two very wrong things.

It most definitely was his son standing before him, and he had a quirk.

The name and description of the quirk, however, was what nearly broke the king of crime on the spot.

_One For All._

All For One would fondly look back at watching the look of surprise spread across All Might's face as he started to tremble in pure rage.

"No…no no no!" All For One shouted, the assembly of people flinching under the harsh aura emanating from the speaker who turned to face All Might. "All Might! You…how dare _you_! You dare to have touched my son, _my son_, with your hands?! I, I should rip you limb from limb like that beloved master of yours and have you strung by barbed wire! You fool! I will complete what I should have done five years ago and fish out the rest of those organs laying in that decrepit body of yours!"

"No! You can't!" Izuku cried.

"Izuku! Quiet! Your father is speaking!"

* * *

"_F…f-father? N-no, that is impossible. Absolutely impossible. M-mom said that d-dad could breathe fire. That was it. Mom didn't lie, she would have known. It's impossible. Mom isn't wrong."_

"Y-you're not my father! That's imposs-"

All For One turned his gaze onto Izuku who, in turn, crumpled to the ground in pure terror. "You were born on July 15 to one Inko and Hisashi Midoriya, that name my alias. Inko was born on July 4 and has beautiful green hair and eyes that look just like yours. Your father had to go away on a business trip when you were four years old and currently works abroad, my guise for working with the League. Your mother's quirk is _Attraction of Small Objects_, and I only showed one of my many collected quirks called _Fire Breath_, one which I can show to you right now!"

Izuku watched with glossed eyes as All For One neatly turned back to face All Might and heaved a forest fire's worth of flames at the symbol of peace.

* * *

"_That nerd Deku's dad is…THAT man? Someone who is going toe-to-toe with All Might and not even pushing himself? No, it can't be, there's no way in all nine gates of hell that this is true."_

Katsuki found that many situations he got into could easily be remedied by fighting his way out of them. No one ever had the ability or chance to match him in a head-on fight growing up, and it was a simple philosophy that he kept to throughout all of his regarded life.

It was in the face of a man who lazily caught the fists of All Might, _the man who never lost_, and subsequently threw him through a good deal of buildings that Katsuki felt truly unable to measure against the man in the mask. Obviously, Katsuki reasoned, what this All For One was saying was an attempt to rile up All Might and make him vulnerable, something that all of the villains surrounding Katsuki could be classified as. A shout above him, though, alerted Katsuki to an odd sight. Shitty Hair and Four-Eyes flying through the air, calling out to him.

With any other person, Katsuki would have ignored the calls and dealt with the villains head on. With All Might on the scene, though, Katsuki knew that all he would do will get in the way of All Might going all out. Blasting himself into the air and latching himself to Shitty Hair, Katsuki flew away from the villains, those more alert members just realizing his disappearance.

"_You know All Might better than anyone, you shitty Deku,"_ thought Katsuki, _"so if you are still as much of a hero nerd as you used to be, you know that you will only get in his way, even with that strange connection you've got. Use that shit-for-brains head of yours and get out of the way!"_

* * *

All Might was having a terrible day.

To have learned that one of his students was kidnapped by the League while at the training camp without him there to protect them tore at his heart. To call himself a symbol when even the students must now look down on his ability to protect them from the dangers of organized villains and killers, it was humiliating. To learn that his sworn nemesis was not only alive but with strength nearly equal to his prime was another stab to his gut, coincidentally in the same spot where he lost most everything in his gut to the same man.

All Might moved through the day, though. He kept pushing through the piling difficulties as he always did, with a smile and a reassurance that everything would be alright because _he_ was there to make sure of it.

But now, hearing the words spew out of All For One's lips concerning the child whom All Might had come to regard as a son, a boy whom All Might came to care deeply for, and to call him his son, twisted so _wrongly_ at the symbol of peace's heart.

"_Do you think me a fool, All For One! Just like how you tried to use Nana against me once before, you attempt to twist my protégé into our mess just to fool me? Truly a despicable thing you are, to use children to fight your battles!"_

How All Might would wish and wish in the years to come that, in the brief moment he had while dodging the onslaught of flames being pushed against him he would have attempted to push All For One away from moving towards Izuku.

* * *

Air pushed harshly against Izuku as All For One sped his way over to stand directly in front of him, hearing a muttered "Force field times twenty" coming from the man and a shimmering barrier erupt around the both of them, encasing them away from all outside influences.

"Izuku, I don't have much time. These heroes have lied to you, they only hurt those around them. It was because of them, because of All Might, that I was never able to return to you and your mother so many years ago. Think of all the lonely nights Inko spent without a husband, of all the times you wished for a father like all of the other children around. Look at me and tell me that your mother deserved to be left alone, Izuku, that you deserve to be left alone."

Tears started to form at the corners of Izuku's eyes. The more All For One talked, the more he realized just how much he yearned for a father in his life. The walls were thin in the Midoriya house, and the tears his mother shed in her room over a cold bed constantly weighed on his mind.

"It was never fair. You lived a life of solitude and pain. Being quirkless meant nothing to me, and it was the first thing that I would have changed for you had I been able to get to you when I could. All of the years of bullying you suffered at the hands of your supposed childhood friend, all because you were different? I could have changed it. You never would have been pushed around, hurt, hated for something that you had no control over had the heroes let me come to you. I wanted to help you and your mother, but the heroes stopped me, don't you see?"

Perhaps it was the shock of seeing his supposed father's quirk, the fear of the man before him to murder him, Katsuki, and the classmates hidden behind him, or the building questions that he had that pushed Izuku to say "You weren't there."

* * *

All For One took a breath. It was clear as to what he would have to do. His mind was made.

"I know, Izuku. I know. I have been such a terrible father, never visiting or reaching out to you as a good parent should, leaving your beautiful mother alone while she waited for a husband that would never come home to see her or their wonderful child ever again. I want you to know that I have loved you and Inko and always believed in you. You can be anything you set your mind to because you are my son."

All Might was furiously pounding against the frame of the force field, small cracks starting to form around the edges, all the while screaming something that was distorted into intelligibility by the barrier.

"As I said, we don't have much time. I shall not be the winner here, nor shall All Might. Our fight will end with his reveal to the world as a broken man, and I shall be imprisoned for life. The League will continue on, and Shigaraki will mature into a fine leader with the potential to dismantle this corrupt system of heroes. As of now, you are too deeply rooted in blind hero worship to see how the world of heroes has become a blood-sucking leech on society to help them, but I do not intend for you to help them yet. All Might will take the gift from me to you of explanation, but I have another gift for you, one that shall show you the truths of this world, and reveal you as my son."

All For One's lips now curled into a bright albeit crooked smile, one that would haunt Izuku for months on end along with the words he then spoke.

"After all, a father would give everything to his son to ensure that he would become a better man. This I assure you, for I am here."

* * *

_This damn force field won't break! All For One must be pushing an insane amount of his strength into maintaining it, though. If I provide a relentless attack, he won't have the opportunity to recover any strength and I can push my way through!_

"Young Midoriya, just hold on! Gran Torino, come help break this barrier with me!"

"Hold yer horses, All Might! If you hadn't noticed, I've got my own handful of villains to deal with to keep off of your back, ya idiot! I guess we will have to go over awareness training again when we're done with this, won't we?!"

On any other day, this remark would have sent shivers down Toshinori's spine and set him into a quivering mess, but in fight of this intensity and severity, he knew that any form of expressed weakness could cost him dearly, as it did years ago. All Might pushed on against the barrier.

"_I can't leave young Midoriya in there alone with All For One! It will reveal everything that I have tried so hard to keep secret, but I have no choice. I will have to unleash my one true ultimate move. It should be enough to push past the cracking barrier and finish All For One in one swoop, at the cost of my time limit immediately expiring, but it will be worth it. You shall not win today, All For One. Why? Because I am here!"_

* * *

Izuku was slowly raised into the air, and realized that he was being lifted up by All For One. Izuku noted the slamming of fists increase in intensity, yet suddenly stop as All Might leapt back and started to prepare himself for what would assuredly be his final move.

Suddenly, the force field surrounding Izuku and All For One dispersed, and Izuku was starting to fly in the air with All For One latching his arm onto his face.

"Know this, Izuku."

"United…"

"The power that you are about to receive is an assured sign of your superiority above those around you. You were not born with this greatness nor did you ever have to achieve it, but it was thrust upon you because you already were above everyone else. It is because I recognize your difference as compared to everyone else that I will do what I must now."

"States…"

"Tomura!" All For One shouted. "Izuku Midoriya is my son. No harm is to come to him, ever. My final instruction to you is to reveal the underbelly of hero society to Izuku and bring him to where he belongs, with the League! I leave it to you now to prepare what will be the end of the corrupt system of heroes! Use what I have taught you well."

"Master! What are you doing?" A distant voice cried out, Izuku and All For One rising higher and higher into the air.

"Of…"

"I love you, son. You may not know it now or ever understand it as I do, but you and your mother are the most precious things in my life. I pass on my torch to you."

"_Wait, what does he mean? All of this sounds similar to what All Might told me when he was training me and when he gave up his…power. Wait, All For One said that he would give up his everything for his son, didn't he. He couldn't…no, n-no no no no NO!"_

Izuku started to squirm violently in the grip of All For One, but it was of little use. All For One raised his second hand and grasped Izuku's head again, tilting his head back and forcing his eyes open {1}. Izuku clawed at the hands wrapped around him, using as much of _One For All_ that he could to free himself from the man's grasp, but it did nothing. He noticed a faint heat starting to emanate from All For One's fingers across his head.

"Smash!" All Might bellowed, launching himself from the ground at breakneck speeds towards the figures high in the air.

"Unfortunately, though, this will hurt quite a bit."

* * *

Izuku thought that he knew what true pain was. Constantly blowing the bones in his arms and fingers into tiny shards nearly every other day before his training with Gran Torino left Izuku with a comforting knowledge that not many people he knew of could compare on a physical level to the amount of pain he has been through. He believed he truly knew what pain was.

As an unknown source of twisted power pushed and burned its way through his very being, through every vein and along every fiber, added with the force of a United States of Smash thrown almost directly at him, Midoriya realized that he never truly felt pain until All For One forced his quirk into his body and was hit by a full-force punch from All Might.

He screamed.

* * *

{1} ATLA – Aang vs. Ozai, final portion of the battle


	3. That which you fear

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 3 – That which you fear**

**AN: What's crackalackin' everyone? I feel like I'm currently on a roll with pounding out chapters to this story, so let's keep the ball rolling! As before, reviews, criticisms, and comments are always welcome. With that out of the way, let's jive, baby!**

**P.S. Music credit for this chapter: **_**O Magnum Mysterium**_** by Morten Lauridsen and arranged by H. Robert Reynolds.**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

* * *

A light filled the Kamino Ward, a twisted mesh of dark reds, purples, and black clashing together violently for a brief moment.

At that moment, only two living beings were aware of the long-awaited return of two powerful quirks. Unique in that these were tied to the soul, wholly irremovable lest the carrier wished for it to be so. The yearning desire to be whole again always lead each carrier of _One For All_ back to All For One in a fight that always resulted in their separation, only to be made reincarnate in another generation, the cycle continuing.

All For One would have never given his quirk willingly to the likes of Nana Shimura or All Might. Their inability to see and learn from him how the world could be changed for the better meant All For One had to become the harbinger of each successive generation. If one was not the perfect candidate for his quirk, then he would force the world to provide him another candidate. This cycle, All For One believed, would continue on to the end of days.

Until he saw his son at the battle.

Izuku was the _perfect_ candidate for his quirk. Izuku was malleable, able to see the other side of all things because he was related to him. Being revealed as the son of the man who nearly murdered All Might will undoubtedly show Izuku the true hate and discrimination of hero society. With his quirk, though, Izuku will eventually turn to the underbelly of society and back to Tomura and the League, to the only people who will accept him for who he is. The lessons All For One imparted onto Shigaraki will grow into a beautiful empire of darkness that will finally do what he could not, end the system of heroes, and with Tomura teaching Izuku, it was a guarantee.

His quirk would not be given away, All For One was sure of it. Just as with One For All, the bearer of the quirk had to intend and wish with all of their being to impart the quirk onto another person. It stung to realize that All Might was able to give that pleasure to Izuku first, of having someone fully believe in your abilities to accomplish their dreams, but it did not matter. _"Izuku is pure-hearted to his very core. He would never wish for another person to have to carry this burden alone and be ostracized for something they could not control. Therefore, he would never fully wish to give away this quirk. It is simply all too perfect."_

Of course, so much of this plan was fraught with holes, vulnerabilities, and hinged on chance, a factor that All For One _always_ eliminated with his flawless plans, but there was no choice here. Another opportunity like this would never reveal itself to him, All For One was sure of it, so he took the opportunity for himself and did all he could to foster its growth.

A sharp pain started to erupt all around All For One's body, and he realized that All Might did land his infamous blow onto his back. Shielding Izuku from as much of the force as possible, All For One accepted that his role in this theater was over. At the corner of his unique vision quirk use, All For One watched as Tomura and the members of the League retreated into a portal made by Kurogiri. Now, as the light started to die down, All For One truly felt at peace. After all…

He left his inheritance to his son. The world was now Izuku's plaything, whether he truly wished for it to be or not.

* * *

All Might passed through many feelings in the past sixty seconds. Anger at All For One for attempting to attack not just one of his students but his protégé and son in spirit, anger at himself for not doing enough to get young Midoriya away from that man sooner and not breaking through the barrier fast enough, terror that he would not reach them in time to stop whatever All For One planned to do, and a healthy amount of fear for All For One in what would undoubtedly be their final battle against one another.

Watching All For One take hold of Midoriya and seeing his student struggle in the grip made Toshinori's blood run cold and alight in flame at the same time. Launching himself with everything that he had, All Might flew against the night and toward All For One's back to end their battle once and for all, the consequences be damned.

What All Might did not expect, however, was a to see a mesh of colors pour out from All For One's extended fingers and into Midoriya. In pure rage at what must have been a directed assault, All Might flung his fist as hard and as fast as he could against All For One's back, the light only growing in intensity each millisecond that he moved. For a single second All Might was blinded, but he saw clearly not even moments thereafter.

When he could see past his own nose and into the night air, All Might only felt as though something horribly wrong happened. A stagnant, twistingly wrong silence filled the area around All Might. Directly below him, All Might saw the body of All For One crumpled into the ground, his chest barely lifting.

Off to the side, though, All Might first heard then saw the gut-wrenching scene of young Midoriya spasming on the ground and screaming to the heavens. Unfiltered terror spread across All Might's face as he pushed what dredges of his muscular form left in his legs to fly to Midoriya. His form having dropped fully now, All Mig- no, Toshinori Yagi knelt before his student. Looking over his body, it seemed as though All For One's body shielded the brunt of his ultimate attack but some damage was flung onto Midoriya, harsh bruises forming on his unprotected sides.

Why, then, was he screaming in such terrible pain?

"Young Midoriya, please, please listen to me. Where are you hurt, what happened? What did All For One do to you, my boy? What do you need me to do? How can I help you?"

No answer was given as Midoriya flailed on the ground, twisting and turning himself sharply one way and then to the other, curling into a ball then extending all appendages in quick succession, altogether squirming violently in pain. _"It must be some kind of pain-inducing quirk. All For One, you bastard!"_

"Help, I need help over here!" All Might shouted, the ensemble of gathered heroes, policemen, firefighters, and paramedics finally rushing from the sidelines and onto the scene. Most went to the downed supervillain to restrain him while they had the chance, others starting rescue operations within the immediate collapsed area. A team of medics rushed to both All Might and young Midoriya, who had now fallen eerily quiet. Too quiet.

"Midoriya, Midoriya my boy. Are you okay? You will be fine, it will be fine, you're safe now. You have to be fine. You _must_ be fine. It's over for now, all over. You're safe, I am here. Please wake up, _please_. It can't happen again, not again, not like Nana. _Please._" All Might started to hyperventilate, small tears falling from his face while he grabbed the body of his protégé from the ground and cradled it in his weakened arms, bringing young Midoriya close to his chest and rocking his body gently.

A paramedic approached from the side, face spun into a look of shock and surprise. "A-A-All M-Might, we need to see the boy. We need to help him and you both. Take a breath slowly. Come with us to the ambulance and we will get you both to a hospital. Recovery Girl will be attending to both of you as soon as you arrive."

"I-I…okay. Please, hurry. I don't know what that man has done to my student." All Might rasped.

Nodding his head in understanding, the paramedic motioned for All Might to follow him and the other paramedics back to their ambulance.

All Might had only one feeling as he sat in a smallish seat in the back of an ambulance, watching as paramedics did their best to stabilize a boy he looked on as a son who was not breathing: despair.

* * *

Izuku's mind was turbulent. He saw and heard only a collection of intelligible sights and characters, it was all a haze. It was difficult to classify if he was even conscious since he didn't really know if he was _anything_ at the moment. Moments passed as soon as they came, all thought was incoherent and barely lasted longer than a second, but Izuku felt as if he were in this dark void for an eternity.

What Izuku was aware of, though, was the pain.

Something akin to a liquidized metal flowed through him, burning him from the inside out and changing what he was. Every moment was agony, and if Izuku could even feel his moth he most probably would have found that it would be open and screaming. While he could not currently make sense of what he could see or hear, he most definitely could feel everything around him, and all of it was horrible pain.

An eternity lasted a moment, and a moment passed in an eternity. Everything flowed out of order and came into him as a jumbled mess.

But in one of those moments, it finally stopped. Izuku woke up to a bright white light shining down on him, and slowly noted that he was in a hospital room, the light gown and thin blanket wrapped around his frame only confirming his deduction. Attempting to lift his hands and legs, Izuku found that they were strapped down. Before he could think much of it, the door opened.

"Well, it looks like I've just got to monitor vitals again…" What must have been a doctor slowly looked up from a clipboard in his hand to the very much awake patient he was assigned, Izuku Midoriya.

"Oh, oh my. You're awake. Wow, I uh, well, hmm…okay." Shaking his head, the doctor slowly approached Izuku. "Hello Midoriya, I am doctor Naoko. We brought you to the hospital with All Might after the incident in the Kamino Ward. Do you remember that and what happened?"

A slow nod from Izuku earned him a nod from the doctor. "Good. Good. You seemed to be in a lot of pain and were thrashing around a lot. We had to strap you down so that we could give you some medicine. If you promise to be careful and not disturb your IV line, I can undo those straps now." Another nod from Izuku prompted the doctor to move forward and quickly release Izuku from the restraints.

"Now, Midoriya, how do you feel? Are you in any pain right now?" A shake of his head. "That is good to hear. You have not received any serious injuries, mainly those that would require us to keep you in our care currently. After I do some simple tests on you, you will be free to go."

Noting the silence in the air, the doctor put on a small smile and warmed his gaze. "You know, I heard that you like to learn about quirks from All Might himself since I helped with a bit of his recovery as well. If you would like to know, my quirk is called _Centrifuge_. With it, I can immediately separate all of the components of someone's blood as long as I have a sample of it, but it only works on the sample. It makes lab work much more of a breeze, I can promise you that."

Izuku's gaze turned hard as a look of terror washed over his face. _"Wait, quirks…All Might's battle with All For One. I'm not remembering something. All For One said he was my father and talked to me. He kept me away from All Might inside that force field barrier. Then he grabbed me, we flew into the air, and then he…no…"_

"It may seem like a weird and gross quirk to have, but doctor work was just made for the likes of me. I really do love having my quirk in this field!"

The doctor continued on, unaware of the growing panic of one Izuku Midoriya until he heard the monitor beep precariously and saw the child start to breathe erratically. "Hey hey hey, kid. You need to calm down. Take some deep breathes wi-"

"No! Stay away from me!" Izuku, in his panic, shoved out his hand to push to doctor away. Instead of being pushed back, though, sharp black tendrils erupted from Izuku's fingertips and lodged their way into doctor Naoko's head. A wave of heat erupted from each of Izuku's fingers as the tendrils started to glow in sharp, jaded fonts of blood red.

"What the hell is hap-, oh, oh my God! Ah, ahh, AHHH!" The doctor started to screech as the color started to leave his face, turning him into a sickly pale and his eyes losing their sharp focus as Izuku watched on in horror.

The tendrils then receded back into Izuku as warmth spread across his body, a feeling of power spreading across him that instantly left him exhausted. With eyes half shut, Izuku blurrily watched as nurses and doctors rushed into his room to attend to him and the now silent doctor Naoko. Before he fully lost his consciousness, Izuku felt a piece of information wedge itself into his head.

_Quirk: Centrifuge_

_Abilities: The user can automatically separate someone's blood into its component parts like a centrifuge if they are able to touch a sample of that blood. The larger the sample, the more blood they can willfully separate._


	4. All For One

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 4 – All For One**

**AN: Groovy, baby! I'm in such a good mood, that I want to push out another chapter! I feel like I've got a really good plan as to the direction I want to take this story in, and I just really cannot wait to have it all written out. Review, constructively criticize, or just comment, talk to me and let me know what you think so far and maybe what you would like to see thrown in! Thanks, also, for the encouraging comments, as they really make me want to keep adding to the story. Without further ado, let's ride!**

**P.S. Music credit for this chapter: **_**Angels in the Architecture **_**by Frank Ticheli**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

* * *

Aizawa was a tired man. Any person that knew of the Erasure Hero would give the roughly same description of the man: bags under his eyes the size of golf balls, disheveled hair, and an attitude that screamed _I would rather be asleep than dealing with whatever problem you want me to fix_.

Aizawa did not, however, slack off on any of his assignments. What he provided was cold, often harsh logic in situations where most people tended to panic and a surprising level of agility for someone who seemed to be deprived of sleep at all times. _"If they looked underneath the underneath, maybe someone would realize that I put up this constantly tired disposition as a ruse to surprise any would-be attacker. In the event where I am caught off guard, at least I can return the favor to them."_ Eraser Head completed every case he had efficiently and thoroughly.

If this week had proved anything to Shouta, though, it was that he was long overdue an actual vacation from his hero work.

The training camp was an absolute disaster. Being ambushed by villains once more along with the kidnapping of one of the students added up to a major PR and media nightmare that Aizawa had to deal with. Being one of the lead figures at the camp, he had no choice but to answer a majority of the questions being hurled at UA, ranging from the legitimacy of the institution and questioning his ability to safely lead the next generation of heroes into the limelight.

Tiring would not begin to describe just how much he had to deal with. Not only handling the questions coming left and right from every news outlet in Japan, but secretly preparing a counterattack against the League of Villains and their new members had proven to drain more life out of Shouta than every other event he dealt with in his life. And that included the lobster incident.

He never thought of the lobster incident. No one involved did.

Even with the rescue of Bakugo from the League's clutches, the problems kept piling up. A small, minuscule, practically nonexistent portion of his mind was thankful for the presence of some of his students at the battle site, using the unexpected against the villains to give the heroes any chance they got to ease their load was undoubtedly helpful. The other, much larger portion of his mind was furious with them.

"_Using only limited information and a smaller task force against a much larger and better-equipped enemy in their home territory without notifying anyone was more than a foolish and rookie mistake. To believe that some of my students were even aware of this and had not thought to contact me or any other hero about this almost gives me enough reason to expel the lot of them. If they believe this is how the world of heroes works, then they are sorely mistaken. To believe themselves able to handle actual villains independently and with no backup plans was idiotic at best. The attack at the USJ must have instilled a false sense of ability in them to handle threats above them. I have enough reason to expel them, I SHOULD expel them. But, without them, we might not have got Bakugo out of the League's clutches. This is so troubling. And concerning troubling people…"_

Aizawa's thoughts drifted to the one green-haired student in his current class. As per usual, Midoriya seemed to be the one who got the most injured in each battle he went into. While Aizawa was silently impressed with the leaps and bounds Midoriya was making with improving the use of his quirk, every fight he went into had to involve one broken thing or another. _"The medical bill that kid would rack up must be atrocious if he had to shoulder all of it financially." _Thankfully, a good portion of the government-mandated hero budget was allocated towards covering medical complications in the line of work, a grace that was extended to all intending hero students.

Directly confronting what had to have been one of the most powerful villains he had and ever would see, Aizawa would almost believe that his student was suicidal if he knew nothing of his student's character. Oddly enough, going up against such a figure netted Midoriya the least amount of injuries he has ever had. Besides some bruises and small cuts, barring what damage he got from the knockback of All Might's final move, nothing was seriously wrong with Midoriya physically.

That was until he heard what had happened with one doctor Naoko. The preliminary report listed that the man had entered the room for approximately five minutes to review and document the vitals of Midoriya, but was found screaming and twisting in pain on the floor of Midoriya's hospital room with Midoriya unconscious.

Test results revealed nothing outwardly wrong with Naoko until they ran bloodwork and quirk factor tests. It was extremely uncommon, but sudden mutations of one's quirk could occur at untimely moments, and with a quirk that could manipulate blood such as _Centrifuge_, some mutations could be more harmful than others. The results stunned the receiving medical team to the point that they demanded a second trial of tests to be done. When the results were consistent with those before, the team listed what they had found

Quirk factor mutations: none

Quirk factor level: 0%

There was no logical basis for the tests to provide the results that they did. If they were correct, then Naoko was quirkless. That, however, was impossible, as many people knew of and could attest to Naoko's useful quirk in medical laboratories, often put on-call to attend various clinics to speed up blood work tests when there was a backlog of requests.

Questioning Naoko was not a possibility as he was rendered completely catatonic after the painful moment he had. The only way Aizawa could get more information was to question the only other person who was present at the event, Midoriya himself.

Given that one of the medical staff was injured while working on a hero, the police force had to involve themselves. Already stretched thin trying to handle the issues in the Kamino Ward, it was difficult to find an available officer to accompany him to question Midoriya. An opportunity arose, though, when he saw one detective Tsukauchi accompanying All Might through the same hospital housing Midoriya.

"Detective, All Might," two heads turned to face Aizawa, "I need your assistance."

* * *

_To be the bearer of All For One is not to be a cursed individual. To have a power that removes the supposed individuality of others is not a horrifying thing, but a harsh truth. To hold the abilities of All For One as your own is not a burden, but a calling to be one above all others. All For One is the power to be judge, jury, and executioner all in one, to decide who is worthy of holding the power of a quirk and who is not. It is not removing individuality when one takes a quirk, but removing the ability of one to harm others. In the event that one resists the call of their decided fate, then it is the power of One For All to act as the guards who ensure that what punishment is deemed fit is carried out. To bear both All For One and One For All is to be the harbinger of justice against one's actions, the dealer of karma, a living tribunal._

* * *

Midoriya awoke with a start, gasping and heaving himself upright in his bed. In turn, he saw three figures jump back in surprise at his sudden uprising. Looking around, Midoriya noted that it was Eraser Head, All Might, and Detective Tsukauchi gathered around him.

"Midoriya, son, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?" All Might asked eagerly.

"Don't push him around too much, Toshinori. You wouldn't want any of the nurses hurting you any more than you have already hurt yourself." Tsukauchi half-joked.

Sheepishly using his non-injured arm to rub the back of his head, All Might showed a toothy grin in response.

"I, no, what are you all doing here? You shouldn't be here, you need to leave."

"We can't do that, Midoriya. We need to talk to you. Something happened with the doctor that came and visited you earlier. Doctor Naoko. Do you remember what happened?" Aizawa pressed.

"N-no no no, you can't b-be here. It's dangerous, I'm dangerous. I-I c-can't control it, can't s-stop it from hurting all of you t-too. Please, _please._ I don't want to hurt any of you. _Please._" Tears now threatened to spill from Midoriya's eyes as he looked at the ensemble members with fear in his eyes. Aizawa was quick to note that it was not a fear of what he or All Might or Tsukauchi would do, but a fear of the self.

"Midoriya, you need to breathe. Just breathe slowly. All I need you to do for me right now is clear your head and calm down. Just answer me this: why do we need to leave? What is it that you are afraid of?" Tsukauchi was growing more disturbed the longer he heard Midoriya talk. His quirk only pinged truths from Midoriya the moment he started to talk, so Midoriya fully believed that could hurt him, All Might, and Aizawa.

Midoriya stiffened. "You…y-you all don't k-know? B-but All Might, you were right there. You saw h-him do this to me, make me into a _villain_. A _monster_."

"Midoriya, my boy," All Might spoke, "you are no villain, and especially no monster. You never have been, and never will be. I see that you've been hurt by All For One, but I honestly do not know what he did to you, none of us do. We need you to help us so that we can help you. What did he do to you boy? I know that we can fix whatever it was that he did, because I-"

"You can't!" Midoriya shouted, his voice cracking. The tears spilled freely now as the inheritor of _One For All_ sobbed into his chest, drawing his knees close to his frame. All Might immediately went to Midoriya and hugged him tightly, pulling Midoriya into his chest as he tightly gripped the boy.

"You can't you can't _you can't._ N-no one c-can fix it. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry All Might. All Might _please_, I'm so sorry." Midoriya choked out through his sobs, grasping at All Might's back as he wept into the man's chest.

"Young Midoriya, I know that it must have been more than difficult to have to go through whatever All For One did, but we want to help you, I want to help you. Please, tell us what All For One did. Let me help you, my boy."

The sobs started to die down as Midoriya pulled back from All Might's grasp, kneeling his head down, part of his hair covering his face.

"A-All Might." Midoriya silently said. "Can I be a hero with a villain's quirk?"

"What do you mean, my boy?"

"All Might, h-he gave it to _me_, All Might. He gave _it _to _me_."

Suddenly, All Might's form went rigid. His hands dropped to the sides as a look of understanding, then pure pain washed over his face, the word "No…" silently passing over his lips.

"_All For One_. He gave me _All For One_, All Might. I'm so sorry, _I'm so sorry_." And once again, Midoriya burst into tears as he revealed that which was forced onto him.

* * *

Post-Chapter AN: The first person to spot my little Marvel reference gets a free cookie or something like that.


	5. Le Misérable

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 5 – Le Misérable**

**AN: What's happening my friends? Coming at you with another chapter here. I really wanted to lay out the framework for some of the elements in this story, so I cracked out some shorter chapters the other day, but you can expect to get more lengthy chapters as the story progresses from here on out. Read, review, do whatever, it's your life.**

**P.S. Music credit for this chapter: **_**Inferno **_**as performed by Carolina Crown in 2015**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

* * *

Naomasa Tsukauchi has been a part of many cases. He has seen horrible things done to good people, bad people getting away from their due justice through crafty words and manipulation, and all of those vice versa. He has seen people break under the pressure of their station, crumbling under the weight of all that they have done and will have to do to follow a system of law that would not always render fair justice onto those who deserved it.

It was not a perfect system, of that Tsukauchi would readily agree, but he believed it was the best one that Japan had at present, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that what laws in place were carried out with full diligence, regardless of who did and did not get away.

Right now, though, Naomasa did not want to think of what the law would determine to be a fair judgment against one Izuku Midoriya, a boy who had every intention of becoming the next symbol of peace.

His notepad thudded against the ground as it slipped from his loose hands. His quirk, _Human Lie Detector_, had many useful applications in the line of investigative police work. He could always find that extra bit of unmentioned information, making slip-ups even more damaging against his cases. Hearing what words just passed over Midoriya's lips, though, Tsukauchi would come to remember how knowing some things to be true and others to be false could hurt more than not knowing.

"He gave me _All For One_," Truth.

There was no way that Tsukauchi could have ever mentally prepared himself for the nuclear blast's worth of information that was just dropped onto him. It felt impossible for such few words to have so much meaning. Being a trusted friend of Toshinori's for years now, Tsukauchi had known of the history surrounding All For One and the various atrocities the quirk-stealing supervillain had committed over the many years he has lived.

"It should be a lie," Tsukauchi argued. For the lord of crime to force not just one of the most dangerous quirks known but his signature quirk onto a hero student was absurd, doubly so if he added in the fact that this particular hero student was the next holder of _One For All_. There was no known basis, no self-serving reason that would lay the foundation for All For One to form another of his convoluted plans.

"_It does not make sense for All For One to give Midoriya his quirk. And how does doctor Naoko factor into this…wait, there's no way that Midoriya actually…"_ Tsukauchi gulped, his hands starting to tremble.

"Midoriya," Tsukauchi started, "what happened to doctor Naoko."

"I-I-I d-didn't m-mean to t-take it." _Truth._ "It w-was an a-a-accident, I t-tried t-telling him t g-g-go away, b-but he k-kept coming c-c-closer and _it_ happened and h-he _screamed _and I'm s-so sorry, so sorry so sorry _so sorry_." _Truth Truth Truth Truth Truth._

Tsukauchi reached out for a chair to stabilize himself, watching Midoriya spill fat tears. "God…"

* * *

Toshinori knew the sting of failure well, especially when it was handed to him by the likes of All For One. The fate of his mentor, Nana, haunted his darkest thoughts to this day. He would never forget how he saw her body, strung up by wire in a facsimile of Jesus on the cross. In his own way, Toshinori mused, he did use to look upon Nana as nothing short of a god, giving him hope and power to change the world for the better. It broke the man's heart and soul, and at many moments he felt as though it would be best to give up in the face of the overwhelming force that is All For One. _If Nana could not bring that man down, how could I?_ he used to think.

With Gran Torino's help to revitalize his spirit and drive, though, Toshinori grew out of his depression and pushed himself to go past the very limits of _One For All_ to get the power to fight against All For One and finish what all of his predecessors could not do. His grand battle five years ago left him wounded but almost fully confident in that he finally brought down his arch-nemesis. He felt as though he could spend the rest of his time to find a worthy successor to continue his legacy and then spend the rest of his days in peace.

While Sir Nighteye definitely provided a strong candidate in Mirio Togata, it was not until All Might saw the drive in Izuku Midoriya to fight against the odds and be a hero when no one else would that confirmed his choice. Seeing the drive in the kid to go against everyone's expectations and be a hero when quirkless, it resonated deeply within Toshinori's soul. Midoriya was and always will be the best successor to his quirk within this generation.

Toshinori molded him into a physically fit vessel, training his body into something that would handle _One For All_ without killing him instantly. Even there, the kid showed his drive to be a hero against the odds by cleaning an entire beach by himself, _without_ a quirk to help him. It was enough to make the man laugh with glee and pride at what Midoriya could accomplish as long as he pushed himself to do it.

In those moments with his protégé, however, Toshinori found that through all of the years of his hero work he neglected to find one thing for himself: a family. Just as a father was absent in young Midoriya's life, Toshinori never had a son. It was difficult to accept, but when he did, Toshinori was so very glad to realize that Midoriya had become the son he never had, and in return, he tried to be the father that Midoriya never really had. Pushing him to become the very best, believing in his goals, helping him when he got stuck, and even berating him when he messed up, the relationship Midoriya and Toshinori had was confirmed all but verbally.

It hurt Toshinori more than he could ever express to see young Midoriya attempt to control _One For All_ in his early days. Watching as his bones effectively exploded due to the knockback and amount of power that he was wielding, it felt as though Toshinori failed as a father figure and All Might failed as an instructor. He knew that he wasn't the best of teachers, the brains of each operation were usually left to Sir Nighteye while he acted as the muscle and approachable symbol of peace, but it was no excuse to leave Midoriya as such. _One For All_ simply came naturally to Toshinori, he never really had to think to understand how to use the quirk, he just _did_. Thankfully, after getting a bit of lip from the man, he got Gran Torino to help young Midoriya just like he did for Toshinori. From then on out it seemed as though, with proper dedication, Midoriya would build up control for _One For All_ at a steady rate and use the power safely and in his own way.

It was watching that magnificent spiritual son of his weep into his arms over how All For One had forced on such a vile burden to him that Toshinori felt that familiar sting, that he just did not do enough to save the one person that needed him to be their hero.

Toshinori last wept at Nana Shimura's burial. He wept today.

"_I don't want to believe this. Young Midoriya can't have All For One, but judging by the look on Tsukauchi's face, I already know how wrong I would be. It just…I, I just don't know what to do to fix all of this. All Might is no more, and even if he were what would a Detroit Smash do to remove a quirk? This is all so messed up, it's too messed up, I-I don't know what to do. Nana, what do I do? What should I do?"_

"_How do I smile, Nana, when there is nothing I can do?"_

* * *

_To be the judge of the world, it is not a task for the weak-hearted. Their burden is always difficult, for they judge harshly those that lived well in life and judge fairly those that lived poorly in life. All beings are presented as equal to them, and all that is left is the quality of their character and the actions that they have committed. Good and evil are not such stark differences to the judge, instead, it is a palette intermixed with many colors. All things do not abide by only one direct impact, but instead, branch out and touch all of time. Should one be judged for brushing against a tree that, hundreds of years from then, would collapse upon a child due to old age and wear? That is the responsibility of the judge, their job to determine the code that the world will abide by. This code is their philosophy._

_All beings are judged, but those that demand immediate punishment are blessed, for they will have the grace of the judge coming to them._

* * *

Midoriya looked over the assembled members in his room. It did not surprise him to note that each of them was left speechless. _"It really is convenient to have someone like Tsukauchi around to make the acceptance process go down a lot easier."_

The tears did not stop falling, and Izuku had no intention of stopping. What was forced onto him, the quirk he has, something that he always wished for as a kid and finally got from All Might, was enough for Midoriya to wish that he were quirkless once again.

"_This thing is a curse. A horrible quirk. To take such cool quirks from anyone whenever I would want and have them forever…all that this is, is a villain's quirk. All I can be is a villain now, with something like this. To make someone quirkless and live my life? To have that terrible fate thrust upon them? Even if I can give back someone's quirk, which I don't know how to, it might turn them into a Nomu. Doctor Naoko is hurt really bad right now, just like Ragdoll. Will the shock wear off, or will they be like that forever? How can I fix this and explain it to everyone? That I can take their quirks whenever I want to."_

"_They will hate me, just like it was before I had a quirk. This time, it will be because of what I have rather than what I don't. I don't want this, I never wanted something like this, it isn't fair. Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"_

"Midoriya. Look at me."

The normally cold voice of Aizawa called out to him calmly, quietly. "I will not lie to you. What you are saying is, well, a very large issue. Superbly large. I-no, we, are not really sure about what we can do right now. This is not a problem that will go away overnight. Right now, you just might be one of the most dangerous people on the planet." Midoriya flinched hard at that. "However, I could not be more grateful that out of everyone I know, it was you who got that quirk."

Midoriya's sobs subdued to slight sniffles as he faced towards Aizawa. "You are a good person Midoriya. You have helped your classmates in the direst of situations with complete disregard to your well-being, and while I am not promoting you keep hurting yourself, I am proud to say that out of everyone in class you embody the tenants of heroism down to your very being. No matter what quirk you have or burden that you may carry, from what I've seen so far you will always act like a hero. You don't have to carry this alone. Us, your classmates, your mother, we are all here to help you grow."

Silent tears now fell from Midoriya's face as he turned his head up to the man, a silent "Thank you" crossing his lips.

Aizawa knelt down to face Midoriya. "You know, I had half a mind to have almost everyone in the class expelled after that little stunt you and your friends pulled at the Kamino Ward. We will be going over this more in class when you come back, but attempting to launch a counterattack against organized villains, at their base, with a grand total of five hero students that don't even have their provisional licenses or equipment, and not informing a single other pro of their plan, was on the order of brain-dead idiotic planning. Barring that, though, do you know what it was that ultimately changed my mind from expelling you lot?" A shake of Midoriya's head. "Tell me, Midoriya. Why did you go with Kirishima?"

"To save Kaachan."

"Would you do it again?" Aizawa questioned.

"In a heartbeat," Midoriya stated resolutely, his back straightening, "I know what we did was not well thought-out, but all we were trying to do was-"

"-the right thing." All Might finished. "Midoriya, you knew that you were going into a situation where the odds were immeasurably against your favor. The pros did have it under control, and we had plans to remove young Bakugo from the site should our initial attempt have failed. Even still, if your plans were not great, your heart was in the right place. You need to learn from this, and you probably never will if we remove you from UA right now. Having a strong will is admirable and can help you through many problems, but it cannot solve all of them. Use that big brain of yours as well."

"The police had a field day trying to figure out what to do with you lot as well." Tsukauchi added, finally standing up. "Out of everything, since your group did not use their quirks to directly attack any villains, we won't be levying any charges against them. Your case was a bit more complicated, as it was shown that you did use some form of your quirk while in his grasp, but any charges were dropped on both counts of self-defense and the…well, uniqueness of the villain. All of this does not mean, though, that you lot should be running around trying to use your quirks to fix any and every problem you see. Getting your licenses teaches you about how much damage a slip-up of quirk use could do damage to populated areas, and trust me, you don't want to see how much the government's hero budget is used on repairs." The final statement earned a couple of chuckles from most everyone in the room, Aizawa even cracking a bit of a grin.

"For now, Midoriya, rest. Your mother will be here soon, and I am sure that will be a wonderful reunion." Aizawa remarked, standing tall and motioning for the other men to follow him and leave the room of one pale-faced Midoriya.

"Wait, my mom's com-"

* * *

Aizawa shut the door behind him as the other two men walked into the vacant room.

"I…gods, this is just…too much right now." All Might's form slumped against the wall, his right hand pressing against the brow of his right eye.

"He has _All For One_, Toshinori. Do you know how easy it would be for him to just walk through the street, grab a couple of pro's quirks, and already be leagues above any other person that could fight him? Having _One For All_ as well only complicates matters boy, oh I don't know, a factor of one-thousand?" Tsukauchi pressed, walking from one end of the room to another frantically.

"He wouldn't just take someone's quirks, Tsukauchi. Midoriya is not like that." All Might growled out, a bit of his muscle form popping out but sputtering away a breath later. "He is not All For One."

"I'm not saying he is, but we need to run checks on this kid. Either way you look at it, he's dangerous, extremely dangerous, just like you used to be. He might not be able to blow down an entire block of a street with a flick of his finger right now, but what he can cause is mass panic and hysteria. How do you think the world would react to learning that there is someone with a quirk that steals other quirks and is being trained by pro heroes. He may be your successor, Toshinori, but as painful as it is to say he is equally the successor to _All For One_ as well. Imagine if people start to call him a villain, degrade his worth as a hero. If the heroes can't even help stop that, who would he turn to first?"

"The most logical response to hearing something like this would be anything but mass panic and hate, but mob mentality does not exactly regard those traits as bad, rather necessary." Aizawa noted. "If word gets out about Midoriya, people will become dangerous. Right now, our best option is to keep him under close supervision by heroes and limit his contact with civilians until he has control over his new power, or powers at this point. I believe Nezu was drafting a plan to institute dorms, I'll make sure that those get done as soon as possible. Information-wise, we need to limit access of this knowledge to only the most necessary contacts. I believe that Nezu must know about this unless he somehow already got this information. Any other people?"

"I think Chief Tsuragamae is a viable candidate. Having the chief of police in the fold might make containing any fallout a bit easier if he can plan ahead for any complications. Toshinori?"

"I think it would be best if Gran Torino knew as well. He has known about this whole history longer than I have, so he might provide some useful information if he was in the fold. I also believe that…Sir Nighteye should know."

"Nighteye," Aizawa noted, "your old sidekick. Why?"

"I think that with Sir's intelligence, he can aide Midoriya in suppressing _All For One_ while still using _One For All_. Sir's use of his quirk is phenomenal, and he would be able to avoid losing it best out of anyone that I know currently. The fewer people we have to worry about being at risk of losing their quirk, the better."

Aizawa mulled over the choices briefly. "…I agree with every person. We cannot have this information leaked, so each of us will discuss this in-person and in private with the person or people we listed. The sooner we get this done, the better. I need to sleep."

The pressures of the day started to catch up to each of the men as their shoulders sagged. It had been a long day indeed.

* * *

"Oh, my baby!" One Inko Midoriya cried as she rushed to her son laying in the hospital bed, fat tears already cascading down her face. "Are you hurt anywhere? Any cuts, bruises? Oh, you can't keep doing this to me Izuku, I've sprouted fourteen grey hairs just waiting for you, and then I saw the news and you were there and IZUKU WHAT WERE YOU DOING THERE!"

"Wait, mom, I can explain, just listen-"

"No, Izuku, you listen! You're all I have in this world after your father left to go work overseas. Do you know how I felt when I had to call the hospital and they told me you weren't in your room but you were discharged and you told me nothing? Do you know what it was like having to watch on the news as that villain who could stop All Might reach out and grab you? I was so _scared_, honey. I-I-I t-thought th-that he was g-going to k-"

Reaching out, Izuku grabbed a hold of his mother and pulled her into a tight hug as she cried, as she let all of her worries spill out, as she finally got to hold her son in her arms. To know that he was safe, that he was _alive_, was all that really mattered at this point to Inko, so she cried and let her fears fall with her tears.

They held each other until they felt their troubled feelings subside. Comfortable now, Izuku looked his mother in the eyes.

"Mom, I have a question."

"Y-yes dear," Inko sniffed out, wiping the tears from her face, "what is it?"

"What do you remember about dad?"

* * *

Post-chapter AN: You thought there was going to be a post-chapter author's note, but it was me, Dio!


	6. Eyes where you sleep

**All the Stars in the Sea: Chapter 6 – Eyes where you sleep**

**AN: Howdy, partners! Sorry for the wait on this one. My work schedule is kind of weird for the summer, so starting today, I'll be jumping into a more set routine of posting comparatively longer chapters within the span of 4-5 days (hopefully). That way, I won't destroy my body attempting to finish a chapter after work because I know I will.**

**And congratulations to one LifeHater (same) for being the first to comment/recognize the Marvel reference I made in chapter 4, those being The One Above All and The Living Tribunal! I'm drawing a bit of inspiration for what Izuku will become from The Living Tribunal, whose main purpose is to judge fairly the people of reality to maintain balance in the multiverse. For this story, we won't even be hitting anywhere near universe-level maintenance for Izuku, but the concept stands.**

**On semi-unrelated note, I've got a big paycheck from my summer job! What should I get myself as a present? Add it into a review/comment to the chapter!**

**P.S. Music credit for this chapter: **_**Allegro moderato**_** from Vasily Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 in G Minor**

**I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.**

The train ride to UA's campus was uneventful. The train car that Izuku rode in was devoid of life, so he took a window seat and watched lazily as the dark of the early morning turned in the sky, a mixing of dark purples and black settling on the horizon. As he sat, Izuku reflected on all that happened the other day.

* * *

"Your father, Izuku? What brought this on so suddenly?"

Out of all the things that Inko had prepared herself to go through when she was told that her son was in the hospital, being questioned about her long-absent husband was not exactly one of the topics she considered as primarily relevant.

"I, well, we haven't seen him in so long, since I was four really. I just don't really remember a lot about him. What was he like? What did he look like?"

"Oh, honey…"

"_It really has been a long time since we have seen Hisashi, has it not? It is not hard to forget when all you have is an empty bed, but Izuku…he has nothing. That fight must have really scared him to have brought Hisashi up."_

"Your father, he was…a quiet man." Inko started, taking a seat next to Izuku's bed. "He always had this air of maturity and intelligence around him, like he always knew more than he let on. We first met at the store, the one near Mr. Daichi's. I wasn't watching where I was going, and I bumped into his back. He caught me before I fell, and helped pick up my groceries as well. After that, he asked me to coffee and we just hit off after that. It was romantic in a more…subdued manner I suppose. He stood tall and confident, with short hair and light eyes."

"Is he really called Hisashi?"

"Izuku, I…what? Ye-yes, dear. His name is Hisashi. Hisashi Midoriya. And he was a good man."

* * *

"Ah, Mr. Midoriya, it is good to see that you are up!"

"AH! Mr. Pr-Principal!" Izuku started to elevate himself higher, but a raised paw and downturned head from Nezu stopped his ascent.

"Now now, Midoriya, there is no need for that right now! I bet that you are surprised and wondering why I have come to visit you, hm?"

"I-If I was to b-be compl-pletely honest, sir, after Mr. Aizawa and All Might visited, well, it drained me of feeling a lot of anything. It has been a long d-day, sir."

"I understand completely. After your ordeal with All For One, there must be a lot in your head currently. I will spare you my lecture on proper engagement procedures when breaching villain headquarters for now as I am certain that Shota has already said what I would say, but do note that he was not the only person considering the expulsion of you and many of your classmates. It was _dangerous_ to lead a charge against organized villains of the caliber you faced at the Wild Wild Pussycat's summer camp with high ranking pro heroes, but adding heroes-in-training that do not even possess their provisional license yet? It should have been more of a disaster than it turned out to be."

Midoriya slowly sucked in air through his clenched teeth. _"We really did mess this up, didn't we?"_

"But, most everything turned out comparatively fine. Casualties were heavily reduced in All For One and All Might's struggle as we evacuated as many people as we could beforehand. Katsuki Bakugo is safe and away from the villain's clutches. All For One was finally defeated and is sitting in a cell in Tartarus and will do so for the rest of the foreseeable future. The reveal of All Might's true form was a bit of a shock to the world, but even that has helped out in a certain way. You see, this fight was majorly broadcasted across every available TV in Japan. Every event, mister Midoriya."

"I am aware that your mother was in here earlier, correct? She must have seen that All For One did something to you. Effectively everyone is under the assumption that it was some type of quirk that casts extreme pain by physical contact. I, however, do not hold the same assumption, and think that something much more unfortunate has occurred. Would I be correct, Midoriya?"

"I…I…yes, sir. I have _it_."

Nezu stopped for a moment only. _High Spec _gave Nezu many blessings in the department of intelligence, a constantly active quirk that enabled him to learn more than any human ever could. In some ways, _High Spec_ gave him too many blessings. The few years of experimentation he suffered under from an organized group of maddened quirk doctors always left Nezu on edge. Being surrounded by people every day did not help much to alleviate this stressor, but it was necessary to ensure the continued success of the rising generations of heroes.

"_Another tally to the necessary, it would seem."_ Nezu regarded.

"Mr. Midoriya, do you know how I learned all that I did?"

"I, uh, n-no sir. I gu-guess that your quirk has a factor to play in your heightened intelligence, but not many people have questioned where it was that you learned all that you did."

"I have multiple honorary degrees for the contributions that I've made to many fields, but I never studied at a university. As I suppose you may know, it is rare for quirks to develop in animals. When people found out that I had a quirk, many people had an investment in studying how my quirk factor evolved to aide studies in childhood quirk development and growth. One group of scientists, in particular, had a stronger urge than others to study me. I was kidnapped and heavily experimented on for roughly a year, being forced to intensively study a wealth of topics in a short span of time and undergo multiple gene modifications and largescale splicing."

"In my time of captivity, I grew a feeling of hatred for humans and their ability to concoct such twisted ideas and have the audacity to carry them out without thinking beforehand and questioning the moral boundaries behind their actions. To this day, while I most certainly do not hate humans, I still feel cautious around them. What I would give to simply know who was and was not a good person, it would be anything."

"The reason I am telling you this, Mr. Midoriya, is because I want you to know that I understand, more than almost anyone else, what it is that you are going through right now. Someone forced something onto you that you did not want, and you have to live with their actions. If I knew of a better way to convey what I truly feel I would express it, but what I can say is that I am sorry. I am sorry that I, the staff of UA, and the rest of the pro heroes on this case were not enough to save you when you needed it the most." Nezu was bowing towards Midoriya, a look of grief spread across his face.

"I…I don't know what to say, Mr. Principal…" Tears formed slowly at the corners of Midoriya's eyes.

"Then do not say anything. Sometimes it is better to simply accept than attempt to repay immediately in words. If you will allow me to continue on, though, we have other important matters to discuss. Before all of this, Mr. Midoriya, you were a unique case. Your ownership of _One For All _is, to All Might, the passing on of a legacy of peace manifestation and preservation. The symbol of peace himself believes that you are worthy of holding this title one day, and while no teacher will show favoritism to our students while educating them, the staff at UA will give everyone the tools to become great heroes one day, in any field they choose."

"This, however, hinged on your original situation. Even within UA staff, information regarding All Might's quirk and state were kept at an exclusively need-to-know basis. No one would connect you and All Might together without having to dig deeply into information not readily available to many people. With _All For One_, though, a new quirk that I am certain you have no control over currently, I have to intervene to preserve the secrets of _One For All_ as well as the safety of the other students and faculty."

"As such, I propose a simple solution! We will be modifying your academic schedule and classes to be held not in the traditional classroom setting, but in one-on-one lessons with me as your teacher! Direct heroics courses will be provided by different heroes working on a rotating schedule, including me. These heroes will, as a prerequisite, already possess knowledge of both _One For All_ and _All For One_. For example, one of them is someone I believe you are already familiar with, Gran Torino, one of UA's previous homeroom teachers and mentor to Toshinori. All Might is a given, I as well, and Aizawa as well. The others? I will leave that as a surprise!"

"I-I can't believe it! To get to learn directly from THE Nezu! UA's principal!" Some light started to return to Midoriya's eyes as the spark of hero fanaticism shined through him. "And to learn heroics all the time in one-on-one sessions? It's like a dream come true…"

"…but, what about everyone else in 1-A? Will they be getting private sessions as well?"

Nezu shuffled slightly in his spot. "Mr. Midoriya, you have to understand. With a quirk such as _All For One_, the ability to take potentially any quirk from any person at any time, what do you think could happen in a quirk related accident with it? The consequences would be dire, and the secret behind _One For All_ would start to waver. Until it is possible for you to contain the power of _All For One_, I think it would be best if you did not attempt to make any contact with your classmates."

Watching his student's face fall, Nezu quickly added in, "Think for the safety of your friends, Mr. Midoriya. As I understand it, you are close with one Iida Tenya and Uraraka Ochako. I would not wish to see the pain you would be in if you were to accidentally take one of their quirks because you could not control your own. If not for your own sake to improve your quirk control, do it for their sake and everyone else's."

"If you truly wish to be the next symbol of peace then the first step you must take now is to control your quirks, and the safest, quickest way to help you do that is in a contained environment."

* * *

_To be the jury of the world, it is not a task for the weak-willed. Their burden is always difficult, because they shoulder the verdict of the masses. The jury is what the people are, have been, and will be. The world's jury renders absolute what is fair punishment, while their judge finds it proper within the constraints of the world. All things do not abide by one direct impact, but instead branch out and touch all of time. Is it fair for one to be punished for brushing against the tree that hundreds of years later would kill a child? That is the responsibility of the jury, their job to determine the punishment that the world will suffer for. This punishment is their morality._

_All beings are watched over by one that is above all, they who are lonely at the top of the world._

* * *

"I…I understand, Mr. Principal. I…I accept."

"I am glad to hear that you do, Mr. Midoriya."

* * *

It was a short walk from the station to campus, and little time was wasted given that Izuku already shipped most of his home supplies to UA.

Silence washed over the area like the tides over a beachhead. The blue hue of the surrounding streetlights casted light over the encompassing darkness. One light, closest to Izuku at the moment, started to flicker violently then burst, the bulb dying and darkness surrounding the general area. Izuku stopped only for a moment as he looked out across the strings of streetlights casting light on everything but himself.

"_How unfortunate, I hope they replace the bulb soon."_

"Ah, Mr. Midoriya, I am glad to see that you are early. Dedication to your goals will get you far, just be certain to not overwork yourself while on the way."

"Mr. Pr-Principal, good morning."

"Come, I'll lead you to your building." Izuku then watched as Nezu casually strode up to him, climbed up his leg, then his chest, onto his shoulder, hoisted himself into his hair, and sat on top of his head.

"Uh, s-sir,, what are you-"

"So, you'll be walking towards the USJ. Most of your practical lessons will be taught at either the USJ, Ground Gamma, or Gym Gamma while we will utilize Ground Beta sparingly for practical scenarios and tests. Your academics, as we discussed earlier, will be taught to you by me. Oh, it has been too long since I got to directly teach. It brings back some of my glory years while progressing through the academic chain, and now, with all of the knowledge I possess, I can increase the intensity tenfold!"

As Nezu progressed, his grip started to tighten around Midoriya's hair. "Ah, sir, that's all well and good, but could you lessen your grip? You are pulling a bit too har-"

"Oh, the joy of watching you squirm under my tutelage as you attempt to answer questions that no person of your current education, or anyone for that matter, should be able to do, will be absolute bliss! Think! Think of how much fun it will be as your mind is pushed to the very brink day after day by me and your body pushed to its limits day after day by all of your other teachers! A perfect specimen for an experiment on high-stress and high-intensity educational methods!"

"Mr. Principal, please, it's starting to hur-"

"Of course, everyone else will just say 'Oh, Nezu's just gone off the deep end again' or 'You can't legally do that Nezu, it's outlawed under child care in educational settings safety programs.' They don't think I listen, but I do. I always listen. I always listen, always watch, and always _learn_. You and me, Midoriya…" Nezu brought his head close to Izuku's ear.

"We are going to have a lot of fun learning, are we not?"

"My _head, _it hurts!"

"Oh, we're here! How conveniently paced!" Nezu made his way out of the perch from Midoriya's head and walked toward a quaint two-story building, the walls made up of a traditional cherrywood. A sign hung above the entrance, reading "House Leto." Above it, a small balcony hung from the second floor, a rocking chair and small table set out in a picturesque manner to watch over the rest of the campus. All around them was a small grove of trees, setting the house off from notice unless one was looking for it directly.

"We had the aid of Cementoss and Kamui Woods while creating the new dorms and houses on campus. All of your belongings are currently inside, and you will see that the building itself really is like a little home. A kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, and even basement are provided, altogether a much larger living space than what your previous classmates currently have provided for them. They will be arriving later in the day to their dorms."

Midoriya's mood dropped at the wording, but did not stop Nezu's mini-lesson. "Nothing is planned for the rest of today nor tomorrow for you, so I suggest that you unpack your belongings and get comfortable! This will be your new home for the time being. Now, I must be off, as the work of a principal is never really over! If you need anything, there is a built-in phone and list of pro heroes for you to contact or message. Please use the line sparingly or in the case of an emergency. Do that, or contact Toshinori, he should know how to help as well. With that, have a good day!"

Turning on his heel, Nezu walked out of the grove and towards the campus. Watching the principal leave, Izuku looked out on the begging of the day. The looming building of UA's campus in the distance casted a barely distinguishable shadow over his new home, the light of the sun beginning to creep over the horizon. Turning on his heel, Izuku walked into his new home.

"_My new life…"_

* * *

"I will tell you more about what will happen from now on tomorrow. That's all."

"Wait, Mr. Aizawa! What about Deku, I-I mean, Midorya? Is he just coming in late?"

Aizawa paused at the question. _"Shit, I knew I forgot something."_

"None of you need to concern yourselves with Midoriya right now. He's being properly taken care of."

"Is he still in the hospital? I heard that he was in the hospital after what that guy that faced down All Might. To face up to that kind of guy just to protect us from being noticed, it was so…so MANLY!"

"No, he's not in the hospital anymore, but his situation is a bit more complex than all of yours."

"So, he will be moving in at a later date, then, ribbit?"

"…no." Silent gasps filled the commons as Aizawa continued. "Midoriya's situation is complicated. None of you have to worry about his education, training, and experience. It is being dealt with. For now, all of you will have to deal with him having an extended leave of absence from the class. To fill his gap, I will be pulling someone from the General Education department up who has some potential to transfer to the heroics department for the time being. Should he prove himself, then 1-A will have a new classmate. You will meet him in two days. If there is nothing else, then I will be going. I have some serious work to do. And by work, I mean sleep."

Pulling a portable sleeping bag from his pocket, Aizawa covered himself in it, flopped onto the ground, and rolled out of the dorms.

"…did, did he just roll out of the dorms?"

"Do you really want to question that, Kaminari?"

* * *

"I don't get it, though. Other than being attacked by the guy that held All Might off, Midoriya did all of the same stuff that we did, as shortsighted as the whole plan was. If anything, he acted more heroically than all of us by facing that guy down when he blew apart that wall! What do you think happened to him?" Kirishima paced across the common room, Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Shoto sitting on the couches.

"I, for one, do not think that he was expelled. Given the unique wording of Mr. Aizawa's responses, it would not make sense. It seems as if they have him somewhere else, but he is still being trained?" Iida offered up.

"Have they put him in another school, then? Or perhaps he is working under a pro hero? If that were the case, though, why the secrecy behind his situation? There is something that we do not know that we are not taking into account. Something that the teachers are keeping from us." Shoto replied.

"If that is the truth, then it is probably classified information. Given Aizawa's responses, it is something that we do not have the authorization for, and probably for good reason. Pushing into this matter will only get us into further trouble, and we are already on the proverbial 'thin ice'. " Yaoyorozu supplied.

"Just leaving him out like this, though, doesn't feel like the manly thing to do. It has to be something with that guy that All Might fought, since he is the only unique thing about the encounter. Maybe…maybe it wasn't a pain quirk that he used on him. Maybe he did something worse. You all saw how he had multiple quirks, what if he used something else?"

Silence reigned as the collected students regarded the possibility. "On a wholly statistical basis," Yaoyorozu started, "it is more than likely that this man could have done something else to Midoriya, exactly what it was, though, is the mystery, and something that we probably should not attempt to find out. For now, I think it would be best if we left this matter to the teachers. We all know what happened the last time we attempted to interfere with their plans, and I would not like to 'push my luck,' as you say it."

* * *

Having spent most of the day unpacking and arranging his belongings across the house, Midoriya went to his room and got ready for bed.

"_It is a lovely place as a house. I bet mom would really love to live in something like this, to have a bit more room to move around in. But…she isn't here."_

"…_it's just quiet."_

Laying his head onto his pillow, Izuku looked out a window to his side, framing the waning moon at the center. On such a clear night, it only happened by chance that Midoriya's eyes would catch a small red beam poke its way through the tree line and into his window. Watching the beam move, he then saw a thin line shoot out from the trees and move towards the main campus, the silhouette of a person on the far end of the line.

"_Wait, red glow, thin strands of something for mobility, that's Eraserhead's signature style. But, what is he doing using his quirk out here? Wait, what is he doing out here? I would figure that they have some motion-based security measures installed, but I didn't trip over anything I think. He wouldn't be out here unless he was looking for someone, or…watching someone."_

"_I'm the only one out here, he was watching me. They leave me to be alone, but I can't be left alone. While I want to protect my friends from this quirk, I don't want to be alone with this. I can't tell anybody that doesn't already know, and those that know are all a bunch of adults. They're good people, but all I want right now is a friend."_

"_Are they missing me in the dorms right now? Do they even know? No one has sent any messages asking about what happened. Do they even care?"_

Midoriya heaved a sigh as his mind twisted and turned. _"I don't want to be alone, but what choice do I have?"_

"_It really is lonely when you are at the top."_


End file.
